Thought Leaders

The Potential Project and its Corporate-Based Mindfulness Training started in Denmark and quickly expanded to 20 countries throughout Europe. In late February it launched a new North American program with a retreat to train and certify trainers, held at the Garrison Institute. In this video interview with our Deputy Executive Director Denise Clegg, the Potential Project's Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter describe how they work with big companies like McKinsey, American Express and General Electric to implement workplace mindfulness, and how it leads to organizational and social change.

At a Garrison Institute luncheon in New York City, psychologist Daniel Goleman speaks about his new book Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence, and key leadership qualities - such as self awareness, empathy, and systems awareness - that track with contemplative strengths.

Sharon Salzberg discusses insights from her new book, Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace, January, 2014 at ABC Carpet & Home, New York, New York. Presented by the Garrison Institute and ABC Carpet & Home.

Richard Davidson, Director, Lab for Affective Neuroscience & Waisman Lab for Brain Imaging & Behavior, University of Wisconsin-Madison Psychology Department, discusses how the scientific study of contemplative practices had advanced in recent decades and some of the key events and figures on that developmental path. In addition to discussing specific topics such as the heritability of epigenetic changes and the study of contemplative methods in teaching and learning, he also describes his own career path in the field, and the formation and growth of the Mind and Life Institute.

The Garrison Institute has the honor of meeting with many of today's leading figures in the fields of organizational development, philosophy, contemplation and the cognitive sciences. Here are interviews with, and presentations by, contemporary visionaries in their respected fields.

The Potential Project's Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter describe how they work with big companies like McKinsey, American Express and General Electric to implement workplace mindfulness, and how it leads to organizational and social change.

Sharon Salzberg discusses insights from her new book, Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace, January, 2014 at ABC Carpet & Home, New York, New York. Presented by the Garrison Institute and ABC Carpet & Home.

In his keynote presentation at the 2013 Climate, Buildings and Behavior Symposium, leading organizational thinker Peter Senge offers a distillation of his insights into the most important factors in achieving meaningful change for the environment or in any sphere of life.

At a December 1st, 2011 Garrison Institute luncheon in New York City, psychologist Daniel Goleman speaks about his new book "Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence", and key leadership qualities - such as self awareness, empathy, and systems awareness - that track with contemplative strengths.

Richard Davidson, Director of the Lab for Affective Neuroscience & the Waisman Lab for Brain Imaging & Behavior, University of Wisconsin-Madison Psychology Department, discusses how the scientific study of contemplative practices has advanced in recent decades.

Evan Thompson, Professor of Philosopy at the University of Toronto, discusses neurophenomenology, the nature of consciousness, and Mind and Life's collaborations among western philosophers, phenomenologists, Buddhist contemplative scholars, neuroscientists and others in the study of consciousness.

At a March 1st, 2011 Garrison Institute luncheon in New York City, environmentalist, entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken discusses the compounding effects of excessive greenhouse gas emissions on an increasingly volatile period of earth’s existence.

Peter Senge discusses his personal exposure to and ongoing exploration of contemplation as well as the application of contemplative practice on organizational wellbeing.

Buddhism’s growth in the West has spurred a rich cross-fertilization among the great traditions. In this spirit, Buddhist teachers have met in mutual support on past occasions in the US, Dharamsala and Europe. During the 2011 Buddhist Teachers Council held at the Garrison Institute in June, 2011, Jack Kornfield, Sylvia Wetzel and Norman Fischer sat down to discuss the state of Buddhism in the West today. They spoke with Robert Gabriele, Garrison Institute’s Chief Operating Officer.

During the 2011 Mind and Life Summer Research Institute, Evan Thompson, Professor of Philosopy at the University of Toronto, discusses neurophenomenology (bringing neuroscience together with the perspective of lived experience); the nature of consciousness; the role of philosophy in inquiring about brain and experience; working with Francisco Varela; the work of Thomas Metzinger; Mind and Life's collaborations among western philosophers and phenomenologists, Buddhist contemplative scholars, neuroscientists and others in the study of consciousness; and the long future of this area of study.

Peter Senge speaks on his personal exposure and ongoing exploration of contemplation. He explains how meditation practice helps him find stability in his work on organization development. For Senge, presence to ourselves and to one another emerges from contemplative practice and presence is the essence of organizational wellbeing. Peter Senge is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the founder of Society for Organizational Learning. He talks with David Rome, Senior Fellow at the Garrison Institute.